You can also add Bluetooth functionality too if you buy the required accessory. I could only find 5.2.2/7.2.2 or 7.2.4 w/external amp. This receiver performs exceptionally. Both the Pioneer Elite SP-EBS73-LR Bookshelf speaker and SP-EFS73 Tower use the same Coherent Source Transducer (CST) driver. Many companies were using in-ceiling speakers, which being a custom install show should not be a surprise. There is no slight delay from being different distances so your ears are time-aligned to both drivers. Pioneer is an organization that has for quite some time been inseparable from reasonable and excellent sound gear, and these vehicle speakers offer all that you’ve generally expected from them. The system under review included five speakers on stands, four sets of height drivers incorporated into four of those speakers… When listening to “So What” off of Kind of Blue, the notes from the double bass sound good, but lack the impact that larger woofers can deliver. Nine channels gives options. Even the pioneer rep stated that the warranty and “quality control” are the differences. The Dolby demo clips with thunder and falling leaves sound great. The only weak point I found with the Pioneer Elite Atmos speaker system is the subwoofer. If you want to upgrade your home theater to Atmos but want nothing to do with installing four more speakers into the ceiling, the Elite line from Pioneer lets you do that. Test Bench. (my specs are pioneer elite sc-95 reciever with pioneer elite floor standers, bookshelfs, center channel and sub). To use the reflective speakers like the Pioneer Elite models, you can’t have an angled ceiling or one covered with absorptive material. If you own Sonos speakers, get a compatible Pioneer amplifier. I think this would benefit the effect by lowering the omni radiation frequency. Jones was kind enough to set up the speakers in my home with a Pioneer Elite SC-89 receiver while I noted how the procedure differed from a 5.1 installation. This is a review and detailed measurements of the Pioneer SP-EBS73-LR bookshelf Atmos enabled speaker. In addition to bringing a high tech concentric driver to the table, these speakers feature an integrated Atmos Elevation module, allowing for a 5.1.4 Atmos setup that looks like a standard 5.1 system, while forgoing the complexities of adding in-ceiling speakers. Just like Andrew told me when he set them up, the Pioneer Elite Atmos Speakers are just good speakers period, even without using Atmos at all. Hate to log in as an owner of the speakers. But I put little stock into a show demo since it is a different environment and often with material I don’t know. However, given the form factor and price point, Pioneer’s Elite sub should be a capable, if not awe inspiring competitor. HTP-076 (Refurbished) Home Theater System Remove the Atmos driver and you’d still want a pair of these bookshelves or towers in your system. The build quality of the speakers also shows how they manage to make them so affordable. The player is a full-size audio component and it weighs just over 16 pounds. It is on kind loan from a local member. Both drivers of the concentric array utilize neodymium magnet structures, which helps reduce size and weight, as well as improve performance. This will improve soon as Gravity, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, and Unbroken all come out in Atmos next month. But it is Pioneer, already well-ensconced in the US pro market with their TAD (Technical Audio Devices) drive-units and monitors, who have made perhaps the biggest techno-splash with their "Elite-TZ" speakers. They are good speakers period. The coherent source transducer does its job. The big question is: how well does it actually work? The speakers … I spent almost all my time listening to them in Pure Direct mode without a sub or room correction and find them to be superb. Since the successful release of Pioneer’s budget friendly speaker line designed by Andrew Jones, people have been wondering: what could Pioneer’s speaker genius do with a few more dollars? The Elite Center Channel Speaker employs the very same CST and bass driver… $ 149.00. They're in the top 3 bestselling speakers and have dozens of popular alternatives in the same price range, such as Edifier S2000MKIII or Klipsch RP-400M. Unfortunately no tolerance was provided for these specifications, which decreases their value. We can understand this to some extent: Andrew Jones wanted to wring out as much performance as he could for your dollar. What A/V receivers would you recommend with this speaker system? Taken together, those numbers indicate buyers would be well advised to pair these speakers with solid amplification, especially if you plan to use them in larger rooms and/or at higher listening levels. The answer to that question is now upon us with the announcement of a Pioneer Elite branded line of speakers. Pioneer Elite SP-EBS73-LR Speaker System Review Test Bench. Female vocals, piano, and guitar all sound superb. For discerning audiophiles, Pioneer Elite delivers the latest technology with Dolby Atmos® sound. Moving cables around a couple times got us the correct channels, but there are a lot of cables in a 5.1.4 channel setup. My towers had some small imperfections on the vinyl wrap at the bottom, and they aren’t as heavy duty as a more expensive speaker is. Pioneer A TS-A6996R Review ... A6996R earned a B+ in the low range and a B in the mids, which means its accuracy was good in these frequencies but not elite. Instead, the top-firing driver is part of how Pioneer plans to support Dolby Atmos in the home: Atmos-enabled speakers (otherwise known as Elevation speakers). So I spent a lot of time listening to these as I would any other two channel speaker. Between this, the bottom model of the elite line, and the vsx-934 which is the “regular” line, i can only find one difference other than the label and price… the elite version claims an ir input and the 934 doesn’t, but that may even be a mistake. was wondering what speaker layout you used during calibration? For their reasonable price, the Pioneer Atmos speakers come with my highest recommendation. Full ReviewPhotosReview ScoreSpecificationsBuy It NowThe Pioneer SP-C22 is piece of the Andrew Jones signature series. It is a BBC documentary that has some nice visuals but far more impressive audio. Like their budget speaker line before this, these Pioneer speakers are developed by Andrew Jones of TAD fame. It … This contributes to having a completely enveloping soundstage all around you. Beginning inside a rain forest, the sounds from the Atmos soundtrack are all around. Compared to my Definitive Technology Mythos STS towers, the only area in which the Pioneers come up short is the deep bass. If you’re just after a 7.1 channel system (5 speakers, two Atmos channels) then the Denon AVR-S720W or S730H is my usual recommendations. Harder to design and more expensive than a separate midrange and tweeter, they are not a possibility on his entry-level Pioneer speakers. Completing the package, the SW-E10 subwoofer features a 10” long throw woofer with a 2" voice coil motivated by a 300W RMS amplifier in a compact sealed enclosure. Instead he thinks you should think of them as a speaker that can also do Atmos, where sound quality was the main design aim and not just Atmos. Over a dozen companies were showcasing it in some manner with two distinct approaches. No, this isn’t Pioneer’s attempt at an omnipolar speaker. There are two things that will probably stick out to folks shopping in this price class. “Let our rigorous testing and reviews be your guidelines to A/V equipment – not marketing slogans”. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. The Pioneer ELITE Smart Speaker F4 is a steal at a $150.00 price point (On Sale) and clearly outperforms the Sonos One at $200, the Amazon Echo Plus at $150, the JBL Link 20 at $150, and the massive Google Home Max at $400. After our experiences in the demo room, we would definitely like to get these in-house for a bit of further testing and evaluation. The Pioneer Elite X-Z9 is a solid system with few quirks that make it enjoyable for those that are just into their music and want a system capable of great sound and lots of features. These scenes work the best because you can hear the sounds moving in the sound field, with the height differences being clear. Andrew has been a fan of concentric drivers for a long time and uses them whenever possible. However, it's fairly safe to say that Edifier R1280T are more popular speakers, based on their 7,000+ reviews. We’ve included models to suit a scope of financial plans and establishment needs. Expected to be available later this summer, the line includes the SP-EBS73LR three-way bookshelf ($750/pair), the SP-EC73 center channel ($400/apiece), the SP-EFS73 tower ($1,400/pair), and SW-E10 subwoofer ($600/apiece). Moving to the SW-E10, frequency response is rated from 30Hz-150Hz, which isn’t surprising for a sealed subwoofer living in a pint sized 13” cubed enclosure. Recently we upgraded from Pioneer’s Elite VSX-39TX receiver to the current highest rank of the Elite line, the VSX-84TXSi. They are easy to setup, have good room correction for the price, and work well with Atmos. The Pioneer PRO series is one of the best car speaker series available right now. Neither of these distracted from the sound quality, but there are always things to improve upon. First off, the SX-S30 features a stylish, slim profile design and houses a modestly powered two-channel amplifier (about 40 watts per channel when driving standard 8-ohm speakers). However, since Pioneer's announcement we've learned that there's more to Atmos-enabled speakers than meets the eye. Atmos is much more impressive than I thought it would be when I first read about it coming home. These feature both high-tech drive-units and a novel (if not entirely new) method of minimizing enclosure vibrations. The most challenging part of the setup is connecting all the channels right. February 19, 2015 by Chris Heinonen 2 Comments. What do the specs say about Pioneer’s new line? We also left the speaker grills off since, as Andrew Jones told me, they are always a compromise to offer protection for the speaker over the best sound. Connecting the Elite SC-61 to the network has other benefits as well since it supports AirPlay out of the box and is the DLNA and Windows 7 compliant. I know uninformed Babble is so much more fun. I refuse to describe the Pioneer with the numbing, sleep-inducing cliché “awesome.” Words like “exceptional” or “atypical” are far more expressive of its characteristics. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $399 on Amazon including Prime shipping. Nor did they want a speaker system that would blend into Ethan Allen surroundings. Pioneer Speakers; Hi-Fi Components. Lesser configurations are available, too, such as 5.1.2. However, both should dig deep enough to integrate properly with a subwoofer. This driver handles treble and midrange for the main speaker and the Atmos speaker. With the Elite Atmos speakers it provides two major benefits. That may seem high for a bookshelf speaker but you are getting two speakers … A subwoofer can fix Deep bass while mediocre treble and midrange will always remain mediocre, so I’ll take the trade-off that Pioneer offers. A high pass filter is applied to the up-firing array at 180Hz in the AV receivers bass management when you select "Atmos speaker", easing its burden considerably. In addition, Dolby has formulated a bit of DSP magic which they claim will allow an Atmos-enabled speaker to convincingly pull off the illusion of height. When Pioneer commissioned Allen Boothroyd, a British industrial designer best known for his work with Meridian Audio, to come up with a unique appearance for its new surround-sound speaker system, they apparently knew what they didn't want: another boring set of square boxes. …I would love to see (sans price) a TAD Beryllium atmos speaker with a bigger, more directive upfiring unit (maybe a 10" concentric, ~60 degree pattern). Pioneer Elite's Dolby Atmos home theater. There are a lot of newer speakers on the market. On the survey I would of liked to see “yes” as an option instead of “yes as long as non Atmos is offered”. One such is powering overhead speakers for best operation with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X soundtracks. When there is so much going on all around you, Atmos isn’t as easy to notice. The DefTech’s have powered subwoofers so they can reach down to 20Hz and hit deep. While an Atmos-enabled speaker doesn't necessarily deliver the exact same experience as an in-ceiling speaker, the Pioneers were able to pull off height effects quite effectively, including a thunderstorm raging over our heads. Pioneer SP-T22A-LR Add-on Speaker Modules ($98 per pair) - A budget-friendly add-on speaker option, these Atmos modules from Pioneer are designed to sit on top of a user's existing speakers, adding an up-firing driver for height effects. The Pioneer speaker does work individually as would be expected and I can activate my other devises through the app but when I try to control the volume through Alexa the only devise volume that is changed is the Pioneer. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. The 6 x 9-inch model we tested, the TS-6900PRO, was among the best sounding speakers we reviewed. That releases two of the amplifiers to, say, help bi-amplify the front speakers or drive speakers in a second zone. In other words, if you get a Pioneer amplifier that’s got Sonos included, it’s like getting a pricey Sonos speaker for free. It is the matching speaker to Pioneer SP-EBS73-LR bookshelf Atmos which I just reviewed. All Rights Reserved. It is likely more of those will come out on Blu-ray as well. At this point, the only questions we have are a. whether other finishes will eventually be offered, and b. if we'll see non-Atmos versions of these speakers for those who opt not to upgrade to Atmos or choose to go with in-ceiling speakers. The install requirements for Atmos are a bit different than most speakers. When an audio mix gets complex it never falls apart and pulls out all the details in the mix. Also given the price point, there are other competitors who don’t offer real wood in this range; in fact, AJ’s former employer KEF offers a “paper veneer” on their similarly priced Q series. In terms of basic performance, Pioneer’s new Elite line looks to have quite a bit of potential. For the setup of the Atmos speakers, Andrew Jones himself came over to assist. The SP-EBS73LR bookshelf boasts a frequency response of 50Hz-20kHz, where the SP-EC73 extends the response down to 45Hz (numbers are TBA on the tower). SC-LX904; SC-LX704; VSX-LX504; View All > Elite Speakers. Pioneer SP-PK52FS 5.1 Floorstanding Speaker System Review, Pioneer Selling Its Home A/V Electronics Subsidiary, Patent WO2014107714A1 - Virtual height filter for reflected sound rendering using upward firing drivers - Google Patents, Pioneer Elite Dolby Atmos Speakers Preview and Demo Results, Dimensions (with Grille): 7” x 15” x 10” (W x H x D inch), Dimensions (With grille): 7” x 40” x 10”(W x H x D inch), Maximum Output Power: 600 Watt Peak, 300 RMS, Crossover Frequency: 40 Hz – 150 Hz continuously adjustable, Dimensions: 13 “ x 13” x 13” (W x H x D inch). Into Ethan Allen surroundings new line just not as deep as some other towers for a long time uses... The most challenging part of the speakers, you should still leave on! Financial plans and establishment needs than most speakers from what traditional stereo receivers, the Pioneer Elite standers... Blu-Ray from Japan called Nature more expensive than a separate midrange and tweeters are identical and should sound the level... 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